LUDI
LUDI is a general term comprising the various spectacles and
contests of the circus and amphitheatre (
ludi
circenses), and those of the theatre (
ludi
scenici) and stadium.
1.
Kinds of games.--In their
legal
aspect we may divide the games into public and private. (
a)
Public. Originally the games were
religious ceremonies, the two oldest being the Equirria [
EQUIRRIA] and Consualia [
CONSUALIA], held in honour of
Mars and Consus. But games were frequently vowed (
ludi
votivi) on the eve of or during times of war (for a long list
see Friedländer, ap. Marquardt,
Staatsv. 3.476, note
7), especially to Jupiter (hence called
ludi magni,
maximi: Festus, s. v.
Magnos
Ludos), which gradually came by custom to be solemnised every
year, and afterwards established by law as annual (
Liv.
1.35,
9) [
LUDI ROMANI]. During the time of the Republic there
were seven such games,--the
ludi Romani, Plebeii,
Ceriales, Apollinares, Megalenses,
[p. 2.85]Florales, Victoriae
Sullanae. The first two were called
sacri, because they had an
epulum
connected with them (
D. C. 51.1). These two, as
well as the Apollinares, had also a day set apart for the
equorum probatio. During imperial times many new games were
added. The birthday feasts and games (
ludi
natalicii), celebrated in honour of the reigning emperors (called
τὰ γενέθλια, whereas
τὰ γενέσια were those celebrated in honour of
dead emperors), were allowed by even the most modest of the Caesars, e. g.
Antoninus Pius (see Capit.
Ant. Pius, 5); but they seem to
have been retained after death only for those emperors who were consecrated
(ib. 13). Mommsen (in
C. I. L. i. p. 380) derives from the
Calendar of Philocalus (constructed 354 A.D.) a list of nineteen such
birthday games as were celebrated at that date. These games were nearly
always circensian, as were also those celebrated in honour of the day the
emperor ascended the throne (
ludi natalis
imperii). Only in the case of Sept. Severus (
D. C. 78.8) were the latter games retained beyond the time of
the reigning emperor (cf. Capit.
Pertinax, 15).
Ludi votivi, too, were often instituted
after a war, e. g. the
ludi Parthici (perhaps
on Sept. 18, Trajan's birthday), instituted by Hadrian in celebration of
Trajan's Parthian war (
D. C. 69.2, and Reimar
ad loc.); and such are frequent in the
Constantinian period, e. g. Ludi Alemannici (Oct. 5-10), Gottici (Feb. 4-9),
Sarmatici (Nov. 25-Dec. 1), &c.; see a list in
C. I.
L. i. p. 376. (
b)
Private. Besides these
ludi
publici, there were
ludi privati,
especially
ludi funebres. Though the whole
people took part in them, still they are private games, as being given by
private individuals and not by the state. The
ludi
funebres were celebrated on the ninth day after death, hence
sometimes called
ludi no-vendiales (Serv.
ad
Verg. A. 5.64). Gladiatorial exhibitions in
the Forum were frequent at these games (indeed were not given elsewhere
during republican times), in accordance with the old belief that human blood
should flow over the grave of a dead man (Serv.
ad
Verg. A. 3.67;
5.78). The beginning at Rome of gladiatorial contests, which came
from Etruria and Campania, dates from the funeral games of D. Junius Brutus
in 264 (Liv.
Epit. xvi.; Mommsen,
R. H.
2.412). Exhibitions of gladiators were often ordered by will to be given at
the funeral of the testator (
Cic. Vat. 15,
37;
Sulla,
19, 54; Hor.
Sat. 2.3, 84). Dramatic
representations were also held at funeral games: e. g. the
Adelphi was acted at the funeral games of Aemilius
Paullus in 160 B.C. Generally the games only lasted one day, and only a few
pairs of gladiators fought; but at the funeral of M. Aemilius Lepidus (
Liv. 23.30,
15), in
216 B.C., the games lasted three days, and
twenty-two pairs of gladiators fought; at those of M. Valerius Laevinus, in
200 B.C., the games lasted four days, and
twenty-five pairs fought (
Liv. 31.50,
4); while at those of P. Licinius in 183 B.C. the
games lasted three days, and 120 gladiators fought (
Liv. 39.46,
2), a very large
exhibition indeed (cf.
Liv. 41.28,
11). It was thought disgraceful for women to be
present at
ludi funebres, and P. Sempronius
Sophus, consul in 268 B.C., sent a divorce to his
wife because she attended funeral games (
V. Max.
6.3,
12; Plut.
Quaest. Rom. 267). Another kind of
ludi
privati were those given by people of high rank voluntarily,
on occasions of great public rejoicing, such as Stella's games in 93 A.D.
(
Mart. 8.78: cf. Pers. 6.48). For giving
such games, non-senators had to get permission from the senate (
D. C. 60.23). These games were perhaps the
ludi honorarii referred to by
Suet. Aug. 32, for which thirty days in the
year had been set apart. Augustus reconstituted these as working days.
Ludi honorarii appear to have been most
constantly given at the Liberalia (Fest. p. 102, and Müller's
note). Private exhibitions, to which special invitations were issued, were
often given by the emperors; such as the
LUDI PALATINI the JUVENALES. Such also, too, were given by Caligula (
Suet. Cal. 54), Nero (
Tac. Ann. 14.44), Commodus (Lampr.
Comm. 8),
Cara-calla (
D. C. 79.10), Elagabalus (Lampr.
Elag. 23), &c.
In the Calendar of Philocalus (354 A.D.) several other public games are
mentioned, devoted to gods, but they are of little importance. The principal
are on Jan. 7 to Janus; April 1, to Venus Verticordia (
Macr. 1.12,
15); April 5, to
Quirinus; April 8, to Castor and Pollux; May 29-June 1, Fabarici to the
goddess Carna (
Macr. 1.12,
31;
Ov. Fast. 6.101 ff.); July
23-24, to Neptune (Tertull.
Spect. 6); Aug. 5 (
Cic. Att. 4.1,
4), to Salus; Sept. 29-30, to the Fates; Oct. 19-22, to the Sun;
Nov. 1, to Osiris and Isis (
C. I. L. 1.405).
According to their
intrinsic nature, the games may be
divided (cf.
Cic. de Leg. 2.1.
5, 38) into (1)
ludi circenses [
CIRCUS], which include both the
races in the circus and the gladiatorial shows [GLADIATOR], and baitings of beasts [
VENATIO] in the amphitheatre [
AMPHITHEATRUM]; (2) the
ludi scenici, or dramatic and spectacular
shows in the theatre. [COMOEDIA; TRAGOEDIA; THEATRUM;
HISTRIO; MIMUS; PANTOMIMUS.] To these are to be added (3) the Greek
contests of musicians and athletes, strictly called
Agones. The performances and performers of the first two
kinds are sufficiently treated in the articles referred to. Here we must say
a word on the
Agones. These contests were first
introduced into Rome by M. Fulvius Nobilior in 186 B.C. (
Liv. 39.22,
2). In 169
B.C. we are told that Aemilius Paullus gave similar shows at Amphipolis, in
which the Romans were quite unversed (
Liv.
45.32,
9-
10).
And at the triumph of L. Anicius Gallus in 167 B.C. it was attempted to give
a musical exhibition, but the people made the performers box instead of
playing the music: that was the only sort of
ἀγὼν they understood (
Plb. 30.13).
In the last century of the Republic we hear of Sulla (
App. BC 1.29), Scaurus (
V. Max. 2.4,
7), Pompeius (
D. C. 39.38), Curio (
Plin. Nat. 36.120), and Caesar (
Plut.
Caes. 39) giving exhibitions of athletes. Such contests were not
appointed to occur at regular intervals till imperial times. Then there were
three principal
agones: (1) the
Actia; (2) the
Agon
Neroneus; (3) the
Agon Capitolinus.
The first two are described in the articles
LUDI ACTIACI and
QUINQUENNALIA The
Agon
Capitolinus was
[p. 2.86]established in 86 A.D.
by Domitian (
Suet. Dom. 4), and celebrated
every fourth year in early summer (Herodian, 7.8, 3; and Clinton,
Fasti Rom. p. 252). It lasted till the end of
antiquity (Friedländer,
S. G. ii.3 620-1), and even into modern times: for it was on Easter Sunday
1341, on the Capitoline hill, that Petrarch was crowned (Gregorovius,
Gesch. der Stadt Rom, 6.207-216; Gibbon, 8.227, ed.
Smith). It comprised contests in Greek and Latin poetry, Greek and Latin
oratory (the subjects being the praises of Jupiter Capitolinus and Domitian,
Quint. Inst. 3.7,
4;
Suet. Dom.
4), and music, for which Domitian built a covered theatre (the Odeum)
in the Campus Martius (Preller,
Regionen, 169), and in the
same place he built a stadium for the athletes who contended in boxing,
wrestling, and the pancratium (Friedländer,
op.
cit. 616-620, an important collection of evidence). Originally
there was a foot-race for girls (Suet.
l.c.). The
victors were crowned with oak-leaves (
Mart. 4.1,
6). For the other
agones, which were mostly gymnastic, such as the
Agon Minervae of Gordian, and the
Agon Solis of Aurelian, see Friedländer,
op. cit. 467.
2.
The Length of the Games.--They originally lasted each only
the portion of one day (
Liv. 45.9,
4; Mommsen,
R. H. 1.472). From one
day they gradually increased during the Republic,--the Ludi Romani to 15,
and after Caesar's death to 16, the Ludi Plebeii to 14, the Ceriales to 8,
the Apollinares to 8, the Megalenses to 7, the Florales to 6, and the Ludi
Victoriae Sullanae to 7: i. e. 66 in all. Of these the Ludi Romani had 5
dies circenses, the Ludi Plebeii 3, and the rest one
each: i. e. 13 in all. (See the Calendar in
C. I. L. i. and
p. 377.) Various games were added during the Empire: in the time of M.
Aurelius there were 135, and in 354 A.D., when the
Calendar of Philocalus was drawn up, there were 175 (
C. I. L.
i. p. 378). Gradually, too, the whole of each day came to be filled up with
events, beginning from early morning (
Cic. Fam.
7.1,
1;
Nat. Deor.
1.28, 78;
Suet. Cal. 26,
Claud. 34), and continued on into the night (
Suet. Cal. 18,
Dom. 4;
Tac. Ann. 14.20,
16.5) on a memorable occasion with living torches (
Tac. Ann. 15.44). Night festivals probably
began with the Floralia (
Ov. Fast. 5.361
ff.); and the part of the secular games celebrated at night was the most
important. After 61 B.C. there was a pause in the middle of the day for the
audience to get their dinner (
D. C. 37.46); and
this period was filled up, at least in the case of the
circenses, with the exhibition of inferior gladiators, the
meridiani. It was during this pause for
dinner on one of the days that the giver of the games feasted the people, if
he did feast them; though sometimes the
epulum
lasted for more than one day (Vell. 2.56). But we hear of viands being also
brought into the circus and the theatre (
Stat.
Silv. 1.6,
28 ff.;
Mart. 5.49,
9; cf.
Suet. Dom. 4).
3.
Instauratio (
Macr.
1.11,
5).--The anxious scrupulousness with
which the Romans observed ritual is often insisted on (for examples, see
Liv. 5.17,
2;
32.1,
9;
41.16,
1). So in the
case of the games Cicero tells us (
de Harusp. resp. 11, 23):
“Si ludius constitit aut tibicen repente conticuit aut puer ille
patrimus et matrimus si tensam non tenuit aut lorum omisit aut si
aedilis aut verbo aut simpulo aberravit, ludi non sunt rite facti eaque
errata expiantur et mentes deorum immortalium ludorum instauratione
placantur.” That is, that in any such case when the games were
performed
non rite, non recte, minus
diligenter, they had to be held over again, either entirely or the
ceremonies of certain days were performed again. The strict phrase for the
repetition of the games in their entirety was
ludi toti
instaurati sunt; that for the repetition of the ceremonies of
certain days was
ludi (
semel, ter, quinquies, or
per unum diem, per
triduum, per quinque dies)
instaurati
sunt. See a long list of examples in Weissenborn on
Liv. 23.30,
16. Games
so repeated were called
instaurativi (
Cic. de Div. 1.2. 6, 55).
Sometimes the games were repeated as often as ten times, owing to faults
purposely committed by the performers who were interested. This was put a
stop to by the Emperor Claudius, who forbade the Circenses to be renewed for
more than one day, with the most salutary results (
D.
C. 60.6). For further details on
instauratio, see Ritschl,
Parerga zu Plautus u.
Terenz, p. 311 ff.
4.
The Givers of the Public Games.--(
a)
Consuls. In order that they might be binding on
the people,
ludi votivi had to be administered
by a magistrate with the imperium, usually then by the consul (
Liv. 30.2,
8;
27,
11;
Cic.
pro Sest. 55, 117;
D. C. 48.32,
56.1,
60.23).
The Ludi Romani were administered by the consuls till the appointment of the
curule aediles in 366 B.C. After that the consuls had only the presidency in
these games (
Liv. 8.40,
2,
45.1,
6;
Mommsen,
Staatsrecht, i.2 397). The fact
was, the giving of the games held out too great opportunities of bribery for
the higher magistrates (Mommsen,
op. cit. ii.2 129). But in imperial times the consuls were appointed
to administer the Ludi Actiaci on Sept. 2 (
D. C.
59.20), the birthday of Augustus on Sept. 23 (ib. 56.49; cf.
C. I. L. i. pp. 401-2), and probably many others (ib. p.
377). The shows of gladiators given by consuls elect date from the beginning
of the second century A.D. (
Dig. 35,
1,
36, pr.). The first
evidence of the games given by the consuls on their
entry into office, which became so important in the fourth century
(
C. I. L. i. p. 382), appears to be Fronto
ad Marcum, 2.1. But in the early Empire the consuls
were expected some time or other during their year of office to give shows
(cf. Epictet.
Diss. 4.10, 21); and though even in the time of
Claudius this was considered a great burden (
D. C.
60.27), the custom continued (ib. 61.6; Vopisc.
Aurel. 12, 12). Alexander Severus lessened the expense of the
consuls and defrayed part of it himself (Lamp.
Alex. Sev. 43;
D. C. 80.5). (
b)
Aediles. From the time of their
appointment in 366 B.C., they were given the
administration of the Ludi Romani (cf.
Liv. 6.42,
13), and gradually they had entrusted to them
the administration of all the other games except the Ludi Apollinares, which
were administered by the praetor urbanus (
Liv.
25.12,
10), as were also the Ludi
Piscatorii (Festus, s. v.). The Ludi Plebeii were held by the plebeian
aediles, and so too were the Ludi
[p. 2.87]Ceriales. Cicero
(
Cic. Ver. 5.14, 36) indeed implies that
the latter were celebrated by the curule aediles; but the Cerialia was the
plebeian counter-feast to the Megalensia of the patricians (
Gel. 18.2,
11; Mommsen,
Staatsr. ii.2 509). After 44 B.C. the
administration of the Ludi Ceriales was most probably transferred from the
curule aediles to the newly-appointed (
D. C.
47.40) plebeian aediles Ceriales. The Ludi Megalenses and Florales
were held by the curule aediles (Cic.
Verr. l.c.;
Mur. 19, 40;
Liv. 34.54,
3;
D. C. 43.48). In 22
B.C. Augustus took the
cura ludorum from the
aediles and gave it to the praetors (
D. C.
54.2), after which time any games given by the aediles were voluntary
(ib. 54.8; Capitol.
Gord. 3). (
c)
Praetors. They had the charge of the Ludi Apollinares and
Piscatorii during the Republic. But in imperial times we find the urban
praetors (this is probably the meaning of
τῶν
στρατηγῶν τῶν πάνυ in
D. C.
78.22) administering the Ludi Megalenses (
Juv.
11.193, and Mayor's note), Florales (Suet.
Galb.
6), and gladiatorial shows (
D. C. 55.31). The
Augustalia were administered by the praetor peregrinus (
Tac. Ann. 1.15). A special praetor
Parthicarius (Wilm. 1167) was appointed to superintend the Ludi Parthici of
Trajan (
D. C. 69.2). Lots seem to have been cast
as to which praetor should give the games (ib. 59.14). The son of Symmachus
was praetor urbanus when he gave his celebrated games (Symm.
Epist. 4.69). For the praetorian games of the
post-Constantinian period at Constantinople, see Gothofred.
Paratitlon to Cod. Theod. 6.4,
init. (
d)
Quaestors.
Gladiatorial exhibitions during the Republic were confined to the private
funeral games. In imperial times they were given as public games, and are
strictly called
munera, not
ludi. In 47 A.D. we find the duty of giving these
munera imposed on the quaestors in lieu of paving
the streets (
Suet. Cl. 24;
Tac. Ann. 11.22,
13.5). This was discontinued in 54 A.D., from which time till the age of Domitian (
Suet. Dom. 4) it was only occasionally and voluntarily that the
quaestors gave such shows. From the time of Domitian the
munera, though fewer than the
ludi, became, however, regular entertainments (Hirschfeld,
Verwaltungsgeschichte, p. 177). In the time of Alexander
Severus it was only the
quaestores candidati
principis who had to give the games at their own expense, and as a
reward they were advanced at once to the praetorship (Lampr.
Alex.
Sev. 43). The rest got a subsidy from the treasury and were
called
quaestores arcarii (Lampr.
l.c.; Mommsen,
Staatsr. ii.2 518, 522). (
e)
Curatores. The emperor in virtue of his consular
power (
D. C. 60.23)--for it was the consuls who
gave extraordinary games (cf. Hirschfeld,
l.c.)--often gave very brilliant games, which were administered by
curatores ludorum or
curatores munerum. The
procuratores
munerum (Wilm. 1285, cf. 1243), according to Mommsen (
op. cit. ii.2 911, notes 1, 2),
were permanent officials, the
curatores those
appointed for a special occasion (
Suet. Cal.
27;
Tac. Ann. 13.31;
Plin. Nat. 37.45). For further, see
Hirschfeld,
op. cit. pp. 175-8.
5.
The Cost of the Games (see especially Marquardt,
Staatsv. ii.2 85-87).--The cost of
the games was defrayed partly by the state and partly by the giver of the
games. The state part was called
lucar [
LUCAR], because it was originally
the revenue from the produce of the sacred groves (
luci), which was devoted to the games (Festus, s.v. Plut.
Quaest. Rom. 88, p. 285). For the
ludi votivi a definite sum (
pecunia certa) was voted (in
Liv.
31.9,
7, the sum is indefinite, and that
is mentioned as an exceptional circumstance), usually 200,000 asses (cf.
Mommsen in
Rhein. Mus. xiv. p. 87), as it was
also for the Ludi Romani till the Punic Wars (
Dionys. A. R. 7.71; Ascon. p. 142, Or.). In 217 B.C. the sum
voted was 333,333 1/3 asses (
Liv. 22.10,
7). For the Ludi Apollinares in 212 B.C. the state
gave 12,000 asses (
Liv. 25.12,
12); in 51 B.C., for the
Ludi Romani, 760,000 sesterces, for the Ludi Plebeii 600,000, and for the
Apollinares 380,000 (see the Fasti Antiates in
C. I. L.
1.328, 329),--sums which fell so far short of the actual amount expended
that the magistrates who gave the games had to resort to the help of their
friends and to extortions from the provincials to supply what was considered
necessary (
Liv. 40.44,
11;
Cic. Q. Fr. 1.9,
26). The people sometimes made subscriptions among themselves towards the
expenses of the games: e. g. in 186 B.C. for the games of Scipio Asiaticus
(
Plin. Nat. 33.138), in 37 and in 27
B.C. (
D. C. 48.53,
53.24); but such were unusual and did not go far. We know that
Scaurus expended vast sums on the games he gave in 58 B.C. (
Plin. Nat. 36.113), and that Milo expended
three patrimonies (
Cic. Mil. 35,
95) in giving his extra-splendid games
(
ad Q. Fr. 3.8, 6). The expense in fact was so enormous
that in 28 B.C. no senator could take the aedileship (
D. C. 53.2). Augustus did not allow one praetor to give more
than another to the games (ib.); in 17 B.C. we find him allowing them to
give three times the grant of the state (ib. 54.17); in 7 A.D. the money
paid to them for gladiatorial shows was withheld by the state (ib. 55.31);
but in the Ludi Augustales the tribunes were not allowed to defray the whole
expense themselves (
D. C. 56.47;
Tac. Ann. 1.15). The state always continued to
make grants (cf. Spart.
Hadr. 3), and sometimes advances to
be repaid (Fronto,
Ep. ad Verum, 6, 9); while in a somewhat
opposite direction it tried to limit the expenses of the games (
Suet. Tib. 34;
D. C.
68.2; Capitol.
Ant. Pius, 12). But the enormous sums
expended on the games may be seen from what has been said about the games of
Scaurus and Milo, from what Martial (
5.25,
10) tells us that the chariot-races sometimes cost
400,000 sesterces (4,000
l. nearly), from the case of
Symmachus, who though not one of the richest senators expended 2,000 pounds
of gold (= 80,000
l. about), and Justinian's games,
which cost 288,000 solidi (=220,000
l. about). For
further details, see Friedländer,
Sittengesch.
ii.3 276-278.
The games accordingly were splendid. As a sample, take those which are
elaborately described by Calpurnius,
Ecl. vii., and commented
on by Gibbon, 2.58-60, ed. Smith; those given by Trajan, and described in
D. C. 68.15; and the games of Symmachus, by
Friedländer,
op. cit. ii.2 319 ff. For enactments on the games in the post-Constantinian
period, see
Cod. Theod.
[p. 2.88]xv. titles 5, 6, 7, 9, especially the latter on the
expenses of the games.
6.
The Audience.--In early times slaves were not allowed to
attend the games (
Cic. Har. Resp.
12, 26); nor were any strangers present except state-guests. But in
later times slaves certainly as a matter of fact used to frequent the games
(Columella,
R. R. 1.8, 2;
Dig. 21,
1;
65, pr.; 10, 3, 1-5;
Juv. 6.353), and also strangers (Ov.
A. A. 1.173; Mart.
Spect.
3). Apparently by law reserved seats were retained for the magistrates, e.
g. consuls (
Cic. Att. 2.1,
4), praetors (
Suet.
Nero 12), tribunes (
D. C. 44.4),
priests and vestals (Arnob.
adv. Gentes, 4.35, an important
passage), some of the public apparitors (
Tac. Ann.
16.12), and many of the officially recognised collegia
(Hübner, ap. Marquardt, 3.471, note 7). The emperor had a regular
closed--in box (
cubiculum), which Trajan
opened, so that he could be seen like any other spectator (Plin.
Panegyr. 51;
Suet. Nero
12). The actual seats were doubtless corresponding to the rank of
each individual; e. g. the curule magistrates had a
sella
curulis, the tribunes a
subsellium, &c. It was a custom frequently practised to
give a free seat in perpetuity to a distinguished man and to his descendants
(
V. Max. 4.4,
8;
Cic. Phil. 9.7,
16); this we find as early as 494 B.C. in
the> case of M. Valerius Maximus (
C. I. L. i. p. 284;
cp.
Liv. 2.31); and occasionally a curule seat
was dedicated in memory of a great man after his death (
D. C. 44.6,
53.30;
Tac. Ann. 2.83;
C. I. L.
6.912). Those who had reserved seats could transfer them to another for the
performance (
Cic. Mur. 35,
73), and in the time of C. Gracchus, on the
occasion of a show of gladiators, we read that several of the magistrates
erected seats which they tried to sell, encroaching on the space which the
people ought to have enjoyed (Plut.
C. Gracch. 12). If we may
judge from the initials of names on the seats in the amphitheatre at
Syracuse, it appears that seats could be sold for lengthened periods
(Friedl. ap. Marq. 3.473, note 1). Of course occasionally games were given
by speculators to make money out of them, though such a course was looked on
as sordid (
Tac. Ann. 4.62): in that case,
nearly, if not all, the places were sold. But at the ordinary games there
appears to have been three kinds of seats (Mommsen, ap. Friedl.
op. cit. 472): (1) those reserved by the exhibitor
to
give to his friends or to those who had legal
right to reserved seats; (2) the seats which he reserved to
sell to such as wished to avoid the long waiting and
severe crush (cf.
Suet. Cal. 26) attendant
upon trying to secure them; (3) the seats or rather places (for the mass of
the spectators stood) which were open gratis to the public. The traffic in
the second kind of seats was pretty considerable, and box-officers (
locarii,
Mart. 5.24,
9)
doubtless derived a large income from buying up the reserved seats and
selling them at a raised price. A noticeable feature about the audience at
the games was the way the exhibitor thought it advisable often to give them
presents. This he did by throwing them among the spectators to be scrambled
for, such being called
missilia: see
Stat. Silv. 1.6,
10 ff. Fruits (
Mart. 11.31,
10), vegetables (Pers. 5.180; Hor.
Sat. 2.3, 182), and other eatables (
J. AJ 19.1,
3) were
often thrown, but generally
tesserae, which
admitted to the most various kinds of pleasures (see Friedländer on
Martial,
8.78,
9).
One of these tesserae which we have is marked
prandium (Friedl. ap. Marquardt, iii. p. 476, note 3).
Occasionally the presents were fastened to a string (
linea dives), which was jerked up and down (
Mart. 8.78,
7). For the
variety of articles scrambled for, see
Suet. Nero
11. We may well believe that the crush and violence were very great
(Herodian, 5.6), and wise people left before the scrambling began (Suet.
Epist. 74, 7; cf. Friedländer,
op. cit. ii.3 286-7).
Another point to be noticed was the opportunity the people took of giving
free expression to their opinions in the theatre ( “et, ubi plurima
vulgi licentia, in circum ac theatra effusi seditiosis vocibus
strepere,” as Tacitus says,
Hist. 1.72).
In republican times much importance was attached to the manner in which
public men were greeted in the theatre by the people (
Cic. Att. 2.1. 9,
3;
Sest. 54, 115). In imperial times we
hear of the audience rising up when the emperor or a distinguished man
entered, clapping (
Suet. Aug. 56) or waving
handkerchiefs (
oraria, Vopisc.
Aurel. 48) and vociferously addressing complimentary titles
or good wishes (
Suet. Dom. 13), often in a
kind of song (
Tac. Ann. 16.4;
D. C. 73.2). Of course there was the most
clamorous outcry for the liberation of slaves or criminals who had made a
good exhibition in the contests (
Dig. 40,
9,
17, pr.), for the
discharge of distinguished gladiators (Mart.
Spect. 29, 3);
and many a gibe was directed at unpopular people (
Juv.
5.3, and Mayor's note;
Tac. Ann.
11.13), and even the emperor himself (Capitol.
Macrin. 12; Tertull.
Spect. 16). The people
also made use of these occasions (as it was very difficult to refuse
requests made in this way,
J. AJ 19.1,
4) to declare against laws (
D. C. 56.1; Joseph.
l.c.), against
detested ministers, e. g. Tigellinus (
Plut. Galb.
17), Cleander (Herodian, 1.12, 5), Plautianus (
D. C. 76.2), and make many other appeals (cf.
Tac. Ann. 6.13;
Plin. Nat. 34.62;
Suet. Dom. 13) and demonstrations (
Cic. Att. 13.4. 4,
1;
D. C. 75.4). Indeed, these were pretty much the
only occasions on which the feelings of the people could be expressed or
gauged under the Empire; and the importance which was attached to this
expression of the popular will may be seen from the fact that Titus, in
order to carry out certain executions which he considered advisable, put
people throughout the theatre to demand them (
Suet.
Tit. 6). See further in Friedl.
Sittengesch.
ii.3 266-274. For the frantic excitement of the
audience during the actual games, especially the chariot-races, see the
passages quoted by Mayor on
Juv. 11.197, and
Tert.
Spect. 16; and for the tumults occasioned by the
partisans of rival performers, see Friedländer,
S.
G. ii.3 457 ff.
The spectators who were Roman citizens had to wear their toga at the games,
and the higher ranks and magistrates appeared in official dress (
Suet. Aug. 40). Augustus allowed the spectators
to come in slippers, without boots, in summer, a permission revoked by
Tiberius, but granted again by Caligula (
D. C.
59.7). Cloaks (
lacernae), which had by
order of Domitian to be white (
Mart. 14.137),
could be worn over
[p. 2.89]the toga in bad weather, but they
were (at least in the reign of Claudius) laid aside on the entry of the
emperor (
Suet. Cl. 6). We are told that
Caligula also allowed, besides cushions for the senators, the broad-brimmed
Thessalian or Macedonian
causia [
CAUSIA] as a protection against
the sun (Dio Cass.
l.c.;
Mart. 14.39), so that it seems the audience
before 37 A.D. used not to wear anything on their heads. Domitian revived
the old customs of theatrical etiquette, and compelled the audience to
appear in white, forbidding coloured costumes (
Mart.
5.8;
23,
1),
though we still hear that the favourers of the different factions wore their
colours (cf.
Mart. 14.131). When owing to wind
the awning (
velarium) could not be used, the
spectators were allowed to hold up umbrellas (
Mart.
14.28). The
dissignator (Plaut.
Poen. prol. 18) was the official who directly saw that
these regulations were observed, and he was responsible to the aediles (cf.
Suet. Aug. 40).
7.
The Performers and the Performances.--See the special
articles referred to above, p. 85.
b.
For the political and social aspects of the games, how in regard to them
idleness took the place of strenuousness till the people were content to
give up their rights and assemblies in return for
panem
et circenses; and the demoralisation spread among the community in
various ways by the passion for these shows, as such subjects lie outside
the sphere of Antiquities, we must be content to refer to
Friedländer,
Sittengesch. i.4
468 ff., ii.3 263 ff., 288, 391 ff.; and H. Schiller,
Geschichte der Röm. Kaiserzeit, 244, 433 ff.
(Further, on the games generally, see Friedländer in Marquardt,
Röm. Staatsverwaltung, 3.462-475; also in his
Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms, ii.3 263-289 (abbreviated
S. G.); Mommsen in
Corpus Inscript. Lat. i. pp. 293-412, esp. 375-381.)
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